


Toy Story

by The Muse of Apollo (mtwb)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: AU, Character Death, Christmas Shopping, F/M, Fluff, Harmony & Co Advent 2019, Muggle AU, no magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-12
Updated: 2019-12-12
Packaged: 2021-02-18 03:16:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21770875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mtwb/pseuds/The%20Muse%20of%20Apollo
Summary: Harry is desperate to find what he needs to make Christmas perfect for his four-year-old son. During his hunt, he meets the most interesting woman, who will change his life forever. Written for the Harmony & Co Advent Collection 2019.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley (past), Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy (Past), Hermione Granger/Harry Potter
Comments: 11
Kudos: 74
Collections: Harmony Advent Collection 2019





	Toy Story

**Author's Note:**

> Title: Toy Story  
> Pairing: Harry Potter/Hermione Granger  
> Warnings: Humor and fluff, manufactured angst of a desperate man, no magic, major AU, modern times AU  
> Rated: T

_ December 23 _

People hurried along the sidewalk, each and every one of them eagerly walking towards their destinations. Many of those rushing down the sidewalks had packages and bags in their hands and were wearing weary but happy expressions that showed that they had completed their Christmas shopping and were heading towards their home and a warm beverage. Others wore the opposite expression. These were the people who still had to find their perfect Christmas gifts and were worried about finding it before the shops closed for the holiday.

Harry Potter was one of those. You see Harry had never been a shopper. Like the rest of the male species, he preferred to shop at the last minute, if only because it delayed the painful experience for another day. Usually, Harry either ordered his gifts online or used the handy online pick-up that many stores were now offering. That way he could get into the store fast and get right back out without having to deal with the plethora of idiots who barged into every toy shop this time of year.

Unfortunately, this year was different.

Harry had a four-year-old son at home and this year Ryan decided that he needed the most popular toy ever sold: The Merlin. The Merlin was this amazing feat of technology and toy-making that was really just an action figure that created a light show. Harry had no idea why it was so popular, but then he couldn’t find anyone else who knew the answer to that either. Whatever the reason, the toy was almost impossible to find and had been for months. Harry, dumbly, had promised Ryan that Santa could work a miracle and would have a mint edition version of The Merlin under the Christmas Tree.

After making that promise, Harry had set to finding the toy online, figuring that he could just throw money at the problem and get one shipped to his home. No problem. He was rich for a reason, right? What use was having a lot of money if he couldn’t use it to make his kid’s dreams come true at Christmas time?

But it hadn’t worked out that way. Several people were selling their unopened toys on eBay, but they had all been sniped out from under him at the last second. That had happened several times throughout November. Finally, Harry had had to admit defeat and had decided that he was going to have to brave the crowds in hopes that he could find The Merlin in stock somewhere, though he didn’t really have high hopes of that.

He decided that he would make some calls and grease some palms to see if he could get a line on shipments of the toy so that he could be in line to purchase one without having to guess when and where one of the toys might show up. That had led him out of his house on the day before Christmas Eve, where he was currently standing in line at one of the largest toy stores in London.

Harry rubbed his gloved hands together, hoping that he could warm up his fingers. It was so cold outside, and he was seriously regretting leaving his  flat with so few layers. His leather jacket was just not enough.

“Bit cold out, isn’t it,” a voice asked behind him.

Harry turned. His eyes widened when he came face to face with one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. She wasn’t ‘supermodel’ quality or anything like that. Instead, she had this ethereal beauty that seemed to glow around her. It made his heart beat faster and his palms sweaty. Quickly closing his mouth - which had fallen open upon gazing at this beautiful creature - Harry nodded. “Yeah. I know it’s December, but London doesn’t usually get this cold.”

The woman smiled at him, making Harry’s heart skip a beat. “The things we’ll do for a silly little toy, right?”

“Oh, you too? What toy are you looking for?”

“The Merlin,” the woman said with a roll of her eyes.

Harry froze. “Wow. I wonder how many of us are waiting in this line to get that one toy?”

“Probably all of us,” the woman said with a laugh. Harry sighed. That was what he figured, though he had hoped otherwise. His contact at the store said that they only had four of the figurines coming in.

“Well, this sucks. There are going to be a lot of us sorely disappointed by the time the store opens.”

“Oh?”

“The manager told me they only have four Merlins coming in on this shipment.”

The woman snorted. “Well, I guess once the doors open it’ll be a sprint to the finish.”

“I guess so.” Harry turned back to the front of the store. There was no sense in getting too friendly with his competition, after all, no matter how pretty said competition was.

Five minutes later, the doors were opened and the crowd, which had to number in the dozens, rushed into the small store. Sure enough, every single member of the mob headed towards the section that held The Merlin figurines. Harry pushed and shoved without regard for the safety of the other patrons. He didn’t particularly care if someone got injured. After all, those people should have moved faster. He needed that toy, and he needed it today!

With determination, he was the first to the display that held the figurines. The display was empty. He felt people skid to a stop behind him, but he ignored them. The display was empty. He searched through the aisle that would normally hold the toy, but the spot for The Merlin was also empty.

“Well, shite,” Harry heard behind him. The woman he’d been talking to in line was standing behind him, scowling at the empty shelf. “Any idea where the four dolls are?”

Harry shook his head. “I’ll see if I can find a manager.” He left to do just that. He felt the woman walking beside him. All of a sudden he heard her burst out laughing. He turned to her and asked, “What?”

“Well, we all look a bit foolish, don’t you think? We all rushed in, pushing and shoving only to find no toys.”

Harry shrugged. “I guess so.”

Ten minutes later, he and the woman had to admit defeat. They weren’t the only ones who had accosted the manager. The harried man told them that The Merlin figurines were on backorder and that the expected shipment had been delayed until after the holiday. Many in the crowd looked mighty angry at that, but Harry just scowled and walked towards the front of the store, ready to get as far away as possible.

This store had been his only lead on The Merlin, and with that lead now washed up, Harry didn't know what he was going to do.

“So what will you do now,” a voice beside him asked. Harry turned to see the same woman walking beside him.

Harry scowled at her. He knew it wasn’t her fault that the morning hadn’t turned out as he had hoped, but he couldn’t help it. No matter how pretty she was, he was not in a mood to socialize.

Harry sighed and kept walking. “I don’t know. This was the only place in the entire city that was going to get a shipment before Christmas. I guess I’ll just have to tell my kid that Santa has them back-ordered.”

Harry stepped out of the store and paused to draw his too-lightweight jacket around him. The woman stood next to him. Harry gazed at her. Her beauty hit him in the gut again, and he was tempted to ask for her number. After all, it had been nearly three years since his wife’s death. Ron, his best mate, was constantly telling him that it was time for him to get back out there and date again. But Harry always felt a twinge of guilt every time he even considered moving on. He felt that Ginny deserved his eternal fidelity. Of course, Harry knew that that was a bunch of nonsense. Ginny Potter would want him to be happy even in the face of her untimely death.

Harry shook off his maudlin thoughts and looked back at the store he had just left. “Maybe I’ll get lucky. I’ll try a few other stores today and tomorrow, so you never know.”

“That’s the spirit. My little boy will be pretty upset if that blasted doll isn’t underneath the tree Christmas morning.”

Harry nodded. “Mine too. I guess I should get going if I’m going to do some more searching today.” Harry grinned at her and held out his hand. “It was nice meeting you.”

“Likewise,” The woman said with a smirk. She shook his hand. Harry, who hadn’t put his gloves back on after taking them off once he was in the store, jolted when he felt a shock pass between their hands. He snapped his eyes up to the woman who was looking equally surprised. Harry pulled back and rubbed the back of his neck absentmindedly.

Deciding that there was nothing more to say - the silence was getting awkward - he gave her a lopsided grin and walked away. He looked down at his hand and smiled. Maybe Ron was right and it was time to get back out there. Maybe he’d find someone more in his league.

-:::-

A few hours later, Harry had forgotten all about the woman and his intentions to return to the dating scene. He’d been to ten different stores in his quest to find The Merlin. At most stores, he was met with a polite rejection. At two of them, he was laughed out of the store.

Around 6 PM he finally had enough and made his way back home. His son’s nanny was not happy with him for being out so long, but Harry had just dismissed her; not in the mood to hear her nagging. He spent the rest of the night just enjoying time with his son, hoping that the next day he’d be more successful.

Ryan had taken Ginny’s death hard. It had been three years, but there were still times when the little boy would ask where his mommy was. Every time that happened, Harry's heart broke for his son. Harry had also taken his wife's death hard, but he'd been able to bury himself in work and in taking care of his little boy.

Harry always made sure that no matter what he was there for his son. He would move the world for Ryan Potter. It was a bit heartbreaking to know that for once he had failed. The damn Merlin doll was going to force Harry to break a promise.

-:::-

_ December 24 _

Harry grinned down at Ryan as the little tyke ran around the Christmas tree over and over again. “You’re going to get dizzy, bud.”

“Daddy!” Ryan giggled as he continued to chase the cat around the tree. The cat had been last year’s Christmas wish, and often Harry found himself regretting giving into his son’s request for a pet. Thumper was a great cat, and he adored Ryan, but he was also an ornery little bastard most of the time. The claws would come out for almost anything, and if there wasn’t food down at the right time every morning, there was hell to pay.

Harry just smiled. Thumper would eventually get tired of the game of tag and then climb the bloody tree. That had caused some problems before Harry had secured the tree to the wall.

He was distracted by the sound of someone knocking on the door. That was very odd. Usually, the security at his building was pretty tight. With his position, Harry was pretty paranoid about who was allowed this far into his building. Curious, nonetheless, Harry walked over to the door and checked the peephole. There he found a shock.

It was the woman from the day before.

How the hell had she found out where he lived? Harry knew that it wasn’t unusual for her to have known  _ who  _ he was, that was easy enough now that he was on TV quite often what with him being an MP, but how had she known where to find his flat? And how had she gotten past security?

Should he open the door? She was pretty, but even beautiful women could be stalkers. But he was curious. So Harry slowly removed the locks and opened the door.

“Hello?” He asked cautiously, which caused the woman to smirk.

“Hello. I’m sure you were wondering why I’m here, and well...how I knew where to find you.”

Harry nodded. “I am. You’re not here to kill me are you?”

The woman laughed. “No. I’m not wearing the right shoes for that. My assassin heels are at home.”

This made Harry laugh with her and caused him to relax a bit. “So what are you doing here?”

“Well, I got lucky last night. A friend of mine works for Harrods and managed to sneak me in after hours.”

“Really?” Harry was trying to figure out what that would have to do with him when the woman continued.

“Yeah, I was a skeptic too, but she came through for me.” With that, the brunette woman indicated a Harrods bag that sat on the floor that Harry hadn’t noticed. “You’ll find the thing you were looking for so hard yesterday right in that bag.”

“No, shite?!” Harry exclaimed.

The woman grinned. “No shite. Go ahead, take it.”

“What?” Harry looked away from the bag and into the woman’s pretty brown eyes. “But...”

“I got two,” she whispered. “The only two.”

Harry laughed and then pulled the woman into a fierce hug. She stiffened for a moment before she laughed and hugged him back.

“How much do I owe you, and come in, come in,” Harry said as he pulled away. He pulled her into his flat and shut the door. No way was he letting her go without at least giving her money for the toy.

“Ryan is busy chasing the cat around the tree,” Harry said with a grin, not realizing that he was still holding the woman’s hand nor that he still hadn’t asked her name. She was looking a little uncomfortable, but Harry paid it no mind. After all, she had been the one to come to his flat in the middle of the day on Christmas Eve. “Come into my study and I can give you some money.”

“Mr. Potter, no. I didn’t do it for money.”

“I know, but you shouldn’t have to spend money on it for a stranger. What you’ve done by going out of your way is enough. By the way, call me Harry.”

“A-alright. I’m Hermione M-Granger?”

“M-Granger?” Harry asked as he led her further into the flat and into his study.

“Sorry, My last name was Malfoy for the last four years, but I just got divorced, so I’m getting used to my maiden name again.”

Harry nodded. “That makes sense. Thank you so much for doing this. I had given up after visiting another 10 stores last night.”

“You’re welcome.”

She handed  him the bag and  he took out The Merlin, which was boxed in an extravagant package with obnoxious phrases printed on the outside proclaiming it to be “The toy of the century!”

“He’ll love this, but it seems like such a stupid thing.”

“I agree. Scorpius will love his too, but I doubt he plays with it for more than a couple days before he goes back to his video games.”

“Same with Ryan. Your son is Scorpius?” Harry asked. The name was...odd to say the least.

Hermione rolled her eyes. “I love  my son to death, but Draco, that’s my ex, insisted we name him Scorpius. The poor kid is going to suffer for all his life because of that name.”

“It’s unique,” Harry allowed. “Can I ask how you found out where I live?”

“You might be the next prime minister, Harry,” Hermione said, “It’s not exactly secret that you live here. The press sits outside of this building every single day. After that, it was just a task of looking on the mailboxes for your name.”

“Wow, I guess I should change that,” Harry said with a laugh. A knock sounded at the door, which made Harry rush and put The Merlin in a drawer in his desk.

“Come in Ryan,” Harry said, walking back and standing by Hermione.

The little boy entered Harry’s study holding the cat and looked at Hermione wide-eyed. Harry wasn’t surprised, he rarely had anyone over who they didn’t know, especially since Ginny had died.

“Ryan, this is Hermione. My...friend,” Harry said.

“Hi,” Ryan said, shyly.

“Hello there, Ryan. Did you have a good time playing tag with the kitty?”

“Uh-huh. Thumper let me catch him this time,” Ryan said with a grin.

Harry laughed. “Why don’t you go clean your hands and we’ll have lunch. Then we can watch some Home Alone.”

“Awesome, I love that movie,  D addy!” Ryan rushed out of the room with a  shouted , “Bye, Ms. Hermione!”

Hermione giggled and turned to Harry. “He’s cute. I should get going.”

“He is a great boy. Listen,” Harry said and grasped her elbow. “Thank you for what you did. I mean that. You saved my bacon. I’ve tried to keep all of my promises to that little boy since his mother died, and I was heartbroken that I was going to have to break this one, even if it was just a stupid little toy. Thanks for keeping that from happening.”

Hermione smiled a beautiful smile, and Harry’s breath caught in his chest. She was so beautiful.

“You’re welcome, Harry.”

“Would...would you like to stay for lunch?”

Hermione shook her head. “I’m afraid I can’t. I’ve already stayed too long, I need to get back or my little one is  likely to burn the flat down. My mother’s watching him, but he’s a handful.”

Harry tried to suppress his disappointment, but he wasn’t altogether successful. Still, he decided to try again. “Maybe we could get coffee sometime?”

“You mean like a date?” Hermione asked, shocked. Harry wondered why she thought it so shocking. Surely, men hit on her often? She was gorgeous. 

Harry shrugged. “Maybe. It doesn’t have to be.”

Hermione was silent for several moments. “You know, I think I would like that.”

Harry grinned. He walked over to his desk and wrote his number on a sheet of paper. He handed Hermione the paper and then grinned at her. “Give me a call?”

“Sure.” Hermione smiled widely at him.

Harry showed her out, thanked her again, and then breathed deeply when the door closed behind her. Her scent was intoxicating, and he could honestly say he was really looking forward to their date.

With a final grin, he went to find Ryan. Christmas was in the bag thanks to a very special lady.

-:::-

_ December 25 _

“Wow!” Ryan whispered. Harry grinned as his son opened up The Merlin. It was a small toy, but the smile that was on Ryan’s face was large, and that made it all worthwhile. For Harry, the toy meant a lot for more than one reason. He kept his promise to his son, which was the most important, but he also met the most interesting woman, and that was good too.

“Merry Christmas, bud,” Harry said as he sat down on the floor next to his son. “You’re going to show me some magic, right?”

Ryan laughed and nodded before sitting The Merlin aside and zooming to his next present. Harry just grinned. Life was good, and it looked like it just might be getting better.

-:::-

_ Two Years Later – Also December 25 _

A loud scream tore through the flat, causing Harry to groan. The warm body next to him just giggled. “Your kids are up,” he mumbled.

“Why are they always mine when they wake us up early?” Hermione asked.

“Well, I have no clue where they came from,” Harry joked. “Just one day I walked into a toy store...”

Hermione punched him in the arm as she  sat up. “That joke gets old, Harry. You don’t have to tell everyone that we met in a toy store.”

“But it’s our toy story!”

Hermione groaned, hit him again and got out of bed. Harry just watched her with a smirk on his face. That day, two years ago, where he met her for the first time was the best day of his life, though he hadn’t known it at the time. Their date after the holidays that year led to another and another, and eventually, it led to marriage and a young daughter that was no doubt ready to celebrate her first Christmas.

He would always be thankful for that dumb little toy that had brought light back to his world. Yes, Harry would always thank Merlin.

** Fin. **


End file.
